Chapter Bonanza (2/10)

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“There are no cicadas beyond the pass?”

At this, Yan Qi abruptly lifted his head. It had suddenly occurred to him that, even at this time of year, he hadn’t heard a single cicada chirp. Even if Bailong Mountain was cool, the cicadas should have emerged by now. But when he asked Huo Ling, Huo Ling said there were no such insects as cicadas beyond the Pass.

“I’ve never seen one in my entire life. I only heard about them years ago from traveling merchants at my stall. They said people back home catch cicadas in summer and fry them to eat.” Huo Ling was sawing a section of a tree stump. He’d initially planned to make a table, intending to try piecing together some planks. But when he entered the mountains, he came across this particular stump. Its thickness seemed just right; with a bit of trimming and sanding, it could be used directly.

With a series of sharp, grating sounds, a circular piece of wood fell to the ground, sending a cloud of sawdust flying. Dager, passing by, got covered in it. He sneezed and then rushed over to Yan Qi, rubbing against his pant leg.

Yan Qi couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time. He raised his hand to brush the sawdust off the dog.

“See what you get for insisting on going over there. Let me check if there’s anything in your eyes.” After a careful inspection, finding only a bit of fur dirtied, he patted Dager’s back, signaling him to step aside. 

He then got up, fetched the large broom from the corner of the yard, and swept the wood shavings and debris together. Huang Yae saw Dager approach and shifted his buttocks to the side, making room for him to lie down. 

Huo Ling glanced at the ger and said, “Sweep these together. They can be composted for fertilizer.”

“Really? Then we should save them.” The family vegetable patch couldn’t go without fertilizer. They didn’t keep livestock on the mountain, so manure was scarce to begin with. They dared not bring back animal droppings from the wild either, fearing the scent would attract carnivorous beasts.

“Hmm, I’ve heard about it from Old Man Mu, the carpenter from Shuangjing Village.”

It was just wood after all. Even if they added too much, it shouldn’t burn the seedlings. Since they rarely got to do carpentry work, the two decided to give it a try. Huo Ling placed the shortened stump on the ground and circled it, examining it.Their tools weren’t as complete as a carpenter’s. 

To avoid uneven cuts, a carpenter would use a chalk line, but he could only estimate.

“Looks fairly level.”

After pondering for a while, he fetched a bowl of water from the kitchen and placed it on the stump. Seeing that the water surface remained level, Yan Qi, who was watching nearby, smiled. “Looks just fine.”

“It’ll do for our own use.”

Huo Ling cautioned Yan Qi to be careful not to touch the freshly sawn wood surface. “There are splinters everywhere. Watch out for them.”

He himself had thick skin and wasn’t worried. “I’ll go gather a few more bundles of wood sorrel later. After sanding it thoroughly, I’ll stop by Old Man Mu’s place on the way down to buy some wood lacquer. That should finish it off.”

Wood sorrel, also known as horsetail, was a common weed found everywhere. Because it grew coarse and rough, carpenters often used it to sand wood surfaces, hence its name.“Do we still need to varnish it? I thought this would be enough.” Yan Qi, unfamiliar with carpentry, asked Huo Ling. 

Huo Ling reminded him, “Without lacquer, it can’t be left outside. Rain will rot it, and soon enough, mushrooms will sprout.”

Yan Qi pictured that scene and couldn’t help but smile. “I recall this is oak wood. It grows wood ear mushrooms, right?”

Huo Ling nodded. “It not only grows on oak, but oak produces the best specimens. Those who know their stuff can tell the difference just by the shape.”

Seeing Yan Qi’s blank expression, he smiled gently. “That’s all for after the autumn harvest. We’ll both be busy then, and I’ll teach you slowly.

”Summer on Bailong Mountain wasn’t unbearable, yet Yan Qi still longed for autumn’s arrival.—In the murmuring stream, a net bag filled with watermelons sank in the shallow waters near the shore. The current washed back and forth, making the watermelon rind feel cool and refreshing to the touch.

Huo Ling and Yan Qi stood a few steps away, their trouser legs rolled up and feet bare, flipping over rocks in the stream searching for snails.

Snails are best eaten in summer and autumn; they become fatter after the autumn harvest, but even now, they were quite good, satisfying their craving.

The mountain water was clear, revealing everything beneath. Snails often hid among the water plants or under rocks. Running a hand along the surface, the moment a hard shell was touched, it was usually a hit.

Once found, they tossed them onto a small, designated spot on the bank. Picking them up after returning to shore saved some trouble. In Yan Qi’s memory, snails were always tiny. Even after stir-frying, there wasn’t much meat—it was mostly about savoring the flavor. But the snails from beyond the pass seemed twice as large, with thicker shells. 

They felt heavy in his hand; he could only grab four or five at a time with one palm. The snail meat was fresh, smooth, and tender—just thinking about it made his mouth water.

“Snail shells can be used as fertilizer, too. We may not raise chickens or ducks, but we don’t waste anything.” Yan Qi looked at the two snails he’d just caught with satisfaction. He tapped their shells together, then held them up to the sunlight for a long moment.

Since the snails were still alive, their flesh retracted at the slightest touch. He played with them like a child for a while before tossing them ashore. In contrast, Huo Ling worked much faster and more skillfully. His large hands could grasp six or seven snails at once, gathering a handful before flinging them onto the shore.

Dager and Huang Yae followed their movements from the shore, calling out whenever a new snail fell. They always rushed over to sniff it.

“When we’re almost down the mountain, let’s go for another round. Snails that’ve spat out sand for two days are just right to eat. There are some in the river down below too, but they’re not as clean as the ones from the mountains, and they’re smaller.”

Yan Qi hummed in agreement. Standing in the water too long had chilled him. Seeing him rubbing his legs, Huo Ling urged him ashore.“You’re more sensitive to the cold than I am. Better not linger in the water. I’ll gather another twenty or so before coming up. Today’s haul is enough for two meals for both of us.”

“Alright, I’ll head out first.”

Yan Qi didn’t insist. His feet felt numb from the cold, and the breeze made it worse once he stepped out of the water. He quickly wiped himself with a cloth and let his trouser legs fall back into place.

He didn’t idle once ashore. Grabbing the basket, he began picking up snails from the grassy banks.

“Xiao Qi, toss me a net!” Huo Ling spotted the whitebait fish in the water. Whitebait and willow root fish were the most common species in the mountain streams. Fresh and steamed simply, they were delicious.

The snails still needed to spit out sand, so tonight they could prepare a fish dish first.

“Right away!”

Yan Qi hurriedly searched for the net, then jogged to deliver it to Huo Ling. Since Huo Ling was in the water, they were still some distance apart, forcing Yan Qi to toss it forward.

But his throw lacked strength, and the net began to fall mid-air. Dager seized the moment, leaping up to catch it in its mouth. Landing back in the water, it sent up a huge splash. Both men were drenched by the splash, along with Huang Yae, leaving them all soaking wet.

Huo Ling took the net from the dog’s mouth, wiped the water from his face, and smiled helplessly. “Should I say you helped or hindered?” Dager didn’t understand, just wagging his tail persistently.

Seeing Dager splashing in the water, Huang Yae also wanted to jump in. Yan Qi initially tried to stop him, but then thought that since Dager was already wet and would likely take a bath anyway, one more person wouldn’t make much difference. He decided to let them both be.

“Are they easy to catch?”

Yan Qi had already gathered all the snails on that side. After handing over the net, he lingered, watching Huo Ling fish with curiosity.

“Easy,” Huo Ling declared decisively. Before long, he swiftly netted two fish. With four fish in hand, Huo Ling stopped. Completely drenched, he simply stripped off his shirt, wrung it out, draped it over his shoulder, and headed back.

Returning to the stream nearest home, he didn’t forget to pick up the cool, refreshing watermelon.

“Steamed whitebait for dinner, stir-fried greens, and half a melon each—that’ll be enough for a meal.”After returning home, Yan Qi headed straight for the vegetable patch. 

The first crop of bitter greens had matured, and rows of fresh green onions stood lush and vibrant. The other vegetables, planted over two months ago, had all borne fruit, though they were still mostly tender.

Yan Qi bent down to inspect the beans hanging from the trellis as he passed by, then ran his fingers over the smooth, purple-skinned, round eggplants. A few rows of potatoes were planted not far away. 

The variety of vegetables started small, but he gradually added more, buying whatever caught his eye at the market. Anything too much for the mountain plot was left for his brother and sister-in-law.

He picked a handful of bitter greens, then remembered the radish tops in the backyard were also edible. He plucked a small bunch of those, too, perfect for a cold salad.

Plucking the leaves actually helped the radishes grow better; otherwise, they’d only grow leaves and not roots.

Speaking of which, radish tops made delicious dumplings. He’d once tried white-flour buns in town and kept saying he’d make them since returning, but various things always got in the way.

Making buns is a bit more troublesome than dumplings, since you have to proof the dough.

The ger kept this in mind, thinking he might as well start tomorrow. He could steam two trays at noon, leaving enough for dinner later.

In the front yard, Huo Ling carefully scraped scales off the fish with a pair of scissors.

Though the whitebait were small, their fine scales absolutely had to be scraped off; otherwise, they’d taste fishy after cooking.

In the past, he’d been impatient with such small fish—the time it took to prepare them could have been used to roast a rabbit instead.

But Yan Qi was quite fond of fish, and for his sake, he was willing to spend the extra time.

Still, the fish caught in these mountain streams were the tastiest. When it came to flavor, even the fish from the river’s opening couldn’t compare. The best were the cold-water fish caught in winter, hauled up through holes drilled in the ice.

They were large and meaty; the biggest ones could reach half a person’s height. Stewed in an iron pot with a circle of flatbread baked alongside, they could feed a household of seven or eight.

These small fish, however, had many bones, making them a delicate task to eat, though their freshness and tenderness were undeniable.

After the fish were cleaned, Yan Qi took them, tied them on an apron, and prepared dinner. Today, there were no dishes requiring Huo Ling’s help.

He circled the courtyard, noticing the firewood was running low. Seizing this moment, he grabbed an axe and sat down to chop wood.

Dager and Huang Yae lay sprawled in the center of the courtyard. Their fur wasn’t quite dry yet. After returning home, Yan Qi had only rinsed their paws. He planned to take them to the stream for a proper bath tomorrow when the sun was out.

Now both knew it was dinnertime. Lying in the yard, they scanned left and right, occasionally tilting their heads to sniff the aroma of the meal.

As night fell and the evening meal ended, both humans and dogs were full.

Huo Ling wiped the knife with a melon rind, then raised his hand to split open the still-cool watermelon.

He and Yan Qi each held a piece, squatting on the ground to eat. The difference was that he spat out the seeds, while the ger didn’t.

Huo Ling planned to collect all the seeds to plant next year, hoping they might grow into watermelons.

Dager and Huang Yae each got a slice too—no more than that, lest they get an upset stomach—though they could have as much rind as they wanted.

Soon, the yard echoed with the crisp, satisfying crunch of melon being eaten.